Film Trailers Overview

1. Film Trailers Overview
The following film trailers promote supernatural horror films.

2. Insidious 3:

3. The Woman in Black:

4. The Conjuring:

5. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

6. The Unborn:

7. Sinister:

8. Overview introduction
• These six film trailers have been designed to successfully promote
films within the supernatural sub-genre. Through carrying out an
investigation, it is possible to find similarities between them which
lead to creating a successful film trailer. This will help me develop my
ideas and carry out my practical work in a successful manner.

9. Conventions
• All six trailers present the battle between good and evil. The trailers show the best
moments in the film in order to attract the audience without giving out too much
information.
• “The Woman in Black” and “The Conjuring” are set in isolated locations, this is a
typical feature as it creates a sense of loneliness and makes the audience believe
there is no way to escape. “Sinister”, “Paranormal Activity”, “The Unborn” and
“Insidious” are all set in suburban areas, this makes the audience relate to the
movie as the events presented could be happening to them.
• The titles are shown at the end of the trailer, giving the audience an insight of the
movie before knowing the name and being influenced by it.
• The music used is eerie and creates a dark atmosphere. It can vary from the
beginning to the end as the beginning of the trailer may picture a happy scene
which ends badly.

10. • All six trailers show children as being either possessed or affected by evil
forces, this emphasises the battle between good and evil as children are
seen as innocent and pure. In “The Unborn”, the evil is the child himself
which will terrify the audience. This also reinforces the idea that children
often appear as conduits of evil in supernatural horrors.
• The lighting often varies from bright to dark to show the progress of the
narrative. For example, the trailer for “The Conjuring” begins with a happy
family moving into a house, the lighting used is ambient and bright showing
their happiness. However, as the trailer progresses the lighting gets darker
in order to show the way the family is affected by supernatural forces.
• Trailers use quick cuts that show fragments of the film without giving out
too much information, but enough to spark the audience’s interest. Cuts are
often used at the end of the trailer, showing a review of the film and the
main events.
• Pale, cold colours, particularly blue and grey, are common and sued to
create a sinister and unwelcoming mood.